I found this excerpt quite amazing and "summarizing," if such a word can be coupled with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It pulls from "Searching for Truth," by Joe Boot.

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"A story is told about a renowned preacher who lost his young wife. In grief, his little daughter came to him and asked a question that completely silenced him. She wanted to know why her mommy had to die if Jesus had already died for her. Her father asked if he could have some time to think of an answer that would help her. On the day of the funeral, they were driving to the cemetery when a large tractor trailer drove beside them casting a massive shadow on the sidewalk. The father looked at his daughter and asked, "Honey, if you had to be run over today, would you rather be run over by that truck or its shadow?" She responded thoughtfully, "The shadow would be better because it wouldn't hurt as much." He paused and answered her gently, "That is what Jesus did for us when he died on the Cross. The truck of God's judgment went over Him. Only the shadow of death goes over us now."

The forgiveness of God is free but is not cheap. It cost Jesus everything, and yet he freely offered his life to purchase our salvation. He took our place on the Cross and bridged the chasm between God and humanity. Faith in him means not only believing the truth of his message, his death, and resurrection, but also putting our whole trust in him--throwing ourselves upon his unshakable sacrifice. Faith means putting all our confidence in Christ himself and recognizing that when we trust him he can bear all our weight--for indeed, he bore the weight of death. Jesus never shrank back from disgrace or humiliation for you and for me. He bore the heavy burden of our sin and death so that we did not have to. As Peter put it, "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

The good news about the Cross of Christ was designed by God to impact us and draw us back to Him. Jesus promised that his death would draw people to himself. The moral power of the Cross is overwhelming when truly understood--that the amazing kindness of God toward undeserving people would lead us to repentance, the love of God would move and humble us, the unspeakable sacrifice of Christ would lead us to obey him, and we would find joy and peace beyond imagination in relationship to God. Because Christ came as our substitute, we can be liberated from the fear of death or judgment and can experience life in every way that God intended (John 10:10).

God's love, generosity, and mercy are the basis of his atonement because mercy has always been the great principle of his government. Blaise Pascal puts it beautifully: "Jesus is a God we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair." When we have humbled ourselves before him, the inner transformation that Christ wants to work in our lives can begin. True spiritual hope is now available.

Jesus points us to our true need, bringing us to see the great gulf between God and ourselves, leading us to an awareness of the problem and the devastating cost of sin. And then he leads us to the Cross and shows us he has done what we cannot. As it is written, "[H]e became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him" (Hebrews 5:9).

The only question that remains is: Will we throw down our arms? After all Christ has done for us through his agony on the cross, will we accept the peace terms? Our substitute wants to be our liberator!"